November 21, 2012

30/30/30 Food Challenge - Day 25: SWEDEN

I can't resist it. In fact, I think this post would be incomplete without some help from one my my favorite Muppet characters, the Swedish Chef!

Because of its north-south orientation, Sweden has a very great variation in regional cuisines. In the north, the cooking has been influenced the Sami people (also spelled Sámi or Saami), the indigenous people inhabiting the Arctic area of Sàpmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. In this region, reindeer and other game meat is popular. Further south, vegetables play a much bigger role in the cuisine.

Many traditional dishes employ simple, contrasting flavours, such as the traditional dish of meatballs and gravy with tart, pungent lingonberry jam (slightly similar in taste to cranberry sauce). Swedish cuisine can be described as centered around cultured dairy products, crisp and soft (often sugared) breads, berries stone fruits, beef, pork, seafood and fish. Potatoes are often served as a side dish, often boiled. Swedish cuisine has a huge variety of breads of different shapes and sizes, made of rye, wheat, oat, white, dark, sour-dough, whole grain; soft flatbreads and crispbreads.

Josée, our Swedish chef for the evening has cooked up the following:

Köttbullar (Swedish meatballs)

Janssons frestelse (Jansson's Temptation)

Köttbullar , Swedish meatballs, is Sweden's national dish. The meatballs are made with pork and beef, onions, bread soaked in milk, nutmeg, ginger and eggyolks. The meatballs are then sautéed in vegetable oil. The gravy is prepared with flour, beef stock and cream.

And as cranberry sauce is a must for Americans eating turkey, Lingonberry jam is the perfect accompaniment to Köttbullar for the Swedes. Fortunately, it is available in Bermuda.

Janssons frestelse: This is a potato casserole made of grated potatoes, onion, anchovies and cream topped with bread crumbs and then baked in the oven for one hour.

Oh! One more thing: One Sweden’s claims to fame it its status as having the world’s northernmost golf course. Officially known as the Arctic Golf Course, the northernmost golf course can be found within the Arctic Circle near the town of Kvarnbacksvagen. The golf course has just 9 holes, and is set mostly among tundra soil. The Arctic Golf course is open from the middle of June through the middle of August, and thanks to the sun shining almost 24 hours a day during these summer months, the course is open 24-hours a day to golfers. I'm working hard to convince Josée that a road trip up Sweden's E6 highway to Kvarnbacksvagen might be just the project. Her answer? "No f#@king way!"